Zero House Edge

Zero house edge isn’t a phrase you hear very often, but there are thousands of players dreaming about games that have exactly that – a casino house edge of 0%. Most players look at games such as baccarat or blackjack, believing that even money shots have a zero house edge, but they don’t.

The Bank hand in Baccarat faces a 1.17% house advantage, and the blackjack house advantage, assuming that you play perfect basic strategy, is approximately 0.5%.

In games of skill, like blackjack and video poker, the player’s skilful play can greatly reduce the casino’s advantage, but not all the way down to zero. In games of chance, which means most other casino games, the best a player can do is wager on bets having the lowest casino advantage among all the bets offered.

A rare exception is found in certain video poker machines that return in excess of 100%, but that figure is based on playing perfect basic strategy (requiring your skill) and eventually hitting the royal flush (requiring lots of luck and plenty of money).

A second exception can be found in blackjack if you count cards. In this case you can make pretty good predictions about the likely composition of future hands based on your knowledge of previously dealt and discarded cards. Here, a keen player can actually create an edge against the house.

A third exception is found at online casinos like Betfair Casino, where a limited number of games have a zero edge, but only if you play by specific rules which include a higher than usual minimum stake.

There are plenty of casino gaming money management systems around that claim to put the odds in your favour, but the truth is that money management systems cannot affect the house advantage on any wager, nor guarantee that you will win more money. If the house has an advantage before you apply a money management system, it has that same advantage even after you apply money management techniques.

The two things that good money management principles offer are an ability to minimise losses and protect any gains that you have already made. As for the dream of a zero house edge right across the board, it looks like we’ll be dreaming for a long time to come...

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